She had been walking for so long that her beloved red shoes began to chafe her feet where her brown socks had worn through. Sleep was all she wanted, but the dampness in the dark ground and the sounds of breathing in the trees forbade her stopping. She discovered an opening in the cleft of an Ancient Tree Trunk and said, “May I sleep inside you tonight?

She took off her purple canvas cap and hung it on the nail beside the bed. She took off the lavender flower print dress, folded it, and placed it neatly at the bottom of the bed. There was an old brown coat lying in the corner and she put that on over her white satin slip, tying the belt as tightly as she could around her waist.

When she awoke, how thirsty she was! As she bent down to drink from the brook, her red shoes knocked against a big jagged slimy rock and fell clean off her feet into the brook. “It’s no use going after them,” she cried wearily. She carried on in the worn brown socks, up the path, through the dank forest.

Fortified from the pine liquor, drunk black from the still, she continued along the forest path, entranced by the magic in form. She came to the edge of the forest and stopped there to draw up her soggy socks. ‘Twas then, when she stood upright that she saw the while light streaming into a Pergola built of many colours.

She came to a great Cherry Orchard. There came out of the orchard a hummingbird, floating above her on its gossamer wings. “How did you manage to come in here, thus far, out into the world?" asked the bird. “I have come simply,” she replied. “I am experiencing everything.” She then tasted the cherries. They were better than any picture book, for each one of them could tell a story.

The Robber Family then happened there and stole the girl, who held a beautiful dahlia she had picked from the dahlia bed. The robbers feared nothing, for they were compelled by greed. The robbers put her in chains and fed her the fat of many sacs of Downy Woodpeckers to fatten her up. The robber daughter took a liking to her and made her sleep in bed with her. The robber daughter had a big sharp electric carving knife in the bed. She kept it under her pillow.

The girl gave the dahlia to the little robber girl. The robber girl had never been given anything before and was surprised at the happiness she felt for she had usually felt miserable. In the goat shed, the Robber Family kept a great Black Bear tied in chains. That night, the little robber girl unbound the bear and the girl. “And here are two loaves and a ham for you, so you won’t be hungry.” The Black Bear put the girl on his back and flew up above the ground, where they hovered for some time. There was an earthquake below them, which swallowed up the house with all of the robbers in it, even the little robber girl.

The hairy pungent Black Bear was very kind to her. He told her how to find The Gate. “I can give you no greater power than you possess already: Don’t you see how great that is? Don’t you see how humans and animals are obliged to serve you, and how you get on so well in the world? It consists of this: That you are a dear innocent child.” And with that he dropped her solidly on the ground and flew away.

As she looked up above her head, the sky filled with boys. They were playing with each other and the noise of their shouts and laughter filled her ears. One boy came down upon her. He liked her hair, the way it blew in the wind. He gently pulled it back, behind her ears and then placed a yellow satin bonnet on her head. She looked into his eyes and he into hers.

But just then he instantly disappeared. On a mound of green moss she fell immediately into a deep sleep, talking and crying out in her sleep. With these utterances she revealed a great longing to look into the boy’s eyes again. But it was unknown to her for in deepness she slept, her size diminished to that of a pea. The gentle birds covered her with a rose petal. The gentle birds cared for her like that for many seasons.